


Never Enough

by brittp94xo



Category: Basketball RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mental Breakdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 20:24:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13621020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brittp94xo/pseuds/brittp94xo
Summary: Just when Isaiah thought he'd finally gotten to a good place in his life and career, recovering from that potential career-ending hip injury. He gets yet another blow to his already fragile psyche when he finds out about the trade to LA.





	Never Enough

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a short little piece about how I think Isaiah Thomas reacted to the trade to LA. Yes, he's obviously super confident and very much an alpha dog on the court but I feel like when he's outside of the basketball world, he'd be much more soft-spoken and sensitive - especially with everything he's had to go through in his career. So don't bash me, please.

When he heard the phone ring at 9:00 am, Isaiah immediately knew something wasn't right and his worry only increased when he saw that it was his agent calling and his heart dropped to his stomach, a wave of nausea rolling over him. 

"Hey IT, how are you this morning?", his agent greeted him with an unusually chipper tone. He took a deep breath, trying to contain the sick feeling he was currently combating. "I'm doing good, Aaron - but enough with this small talk shit. Just get to the chase. I know you didn't call me to ask about how my day's going.", he replied with a tone that came out a bit harsher than he had intended. 

He honestly hadn't meant to sound so snappy, but he didn't need his agent of all people to sugar coat bad news. Besides, he'd already been through the same situation this summer when he found out he was leaving Boston to come to Cleveland. He was still pissed at Danny Ainge and the entire Celtics organization for dumping him like garbage after promising him that they "had his back", "he'd be part of their plans for the future" and other lines which he quickly found out to be bullshit, point blank. 

He knew he shouldn't have been surprised. Obviously, the NBA is a business and teams will tell players what they want to hear. Promises of championships, lengthy high-priced contracts, endorsement deals or whatever will get the job done to seal a deal with a new player. They'd promise you the moon and you'd get shit in return. And he took the bait - hook, line and sinker. 

Not once but twice now he'd been naive enough to believe he'd finally get his chance to shine, win championships and do all the things he'd dreamed of since he was a little boy but now it looked like his dreams were shattered yet again and that heartbreaking realization nearly brought him to tears. He then took another deep breath, trying rein in the swell of emotions currently swirling around his head.

"I'm sorry to have to give you this news, Isaiah - but you along with Channing have been traded to LA.", his agent replied in a somber tone. And there it was. He been traded for the second time in months. Isaiah didn't even bother to say goodbye to his agent, just hung up before Aaron heard him cry.

He couldn't even begin to know how much time had elapsed after that call, because he was just curled up on the floor in the fetal position - his body trembling with the force of his gut-wrenching sobbing. It was funny because not even rehabbing his hip had caused him this much pain. At least that was a comforting kind of pain, one that reminded him what he was working for. But now? He honestly wasn't even sure anymore.

Eventually Isaiah peeled himself off the floor, after wiping his eyes and packed up his stuff then made his way to the airport knowing he'd have a long, lonely flight to LA. He then put on pair of sunglasses to hide his obvious state of emotional distress along with his old high school letterman jacket, taking extra care to hide the new scars that marred the flesh of his wrists. There were some on his ankles too, but thankfully nobody ever seen them because of his socks. Not that anyone would ever ask about the suspicious marks. No one ever had bothered to care about Isaiah before, so why would they start now?

Anyone who knew Isaiah would be the first to tell you how strong and hard-working he was, how he gave every single ounce of his mind, body and soul to basketball. The sport was the love of his life, what he lived for. He'd spent his whole life proving that he belonged on a basketball court, all five foot nine inches of him but the sad truth of reality was, it always seemed like no matter what he did that none of it would never be enough.


End file.
